The Beat Of My Heart with the Warmth of His Hand
by readlivlaflove
Summary: In the 2nd Quarter Quell, a girl Maysilee Donner, and a boy, Haymitch Abernathy were chosen along with two others as the tributes of District 12. Through many trials of pain and death, they come together as Allies, as Friends and then something more. This is Maysilee Donner's story, of her journey through one of the biggest Hunger Games ever.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: The Tears Fall

The sky was bright, the sun shining brightly down upon the emerald grass. It was so beautiful, a place for laughter and joy not tears and death. Yet it was. As the wet warmth of tears ran down my face, I couldn't feel the pain. All I could feel was the comforting heat of his hand on mine. All I could see were his grey storm eyes wet with tears, and pain, as I finally let go.

That was the end of my story, of my pain and my struggle. But, I am still watching. I am watching and guiding, protecting those I love. Protecting the boy with the grey Seam eyes, and warm comforting hands, the one I fell in love with. I don't know how but I did.

My name is Maysilee Donner, and this is my story.

**Hey! This was an idea that I really wanted to try and so I did. I know it's really short but I promise the next one will be longer! Reviews would be really nice so that I can make this story even better! Thanks!**

**-Readlivlaflove :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Swimming Against the Tide

The metal was tarnished and old, its golden colour no longer shone as brightly in the light. But to me, all that mattered were the memories it gave me. As my fingers gently brushed across the light grooves of the small feathers, I saw his kind blue eyes, set in an old face, but still twinkling as they must have done long ago. When I slowly pressed the pad of my thumb to the small tip of the arrow, I felt his warm callused hands over mine.

He was never coming back, he was gone forever, and one of the only people in this whole damn world who actually cared about my existence was gone! Anger was coiling itself around in the pit of my stomach like a snake, as I realized that I was alone. I was on the verge of losing control when I felt a sharp prick in the center of my right hand. The tip of the arrow had pricked me, when I had squeezed my hand. Then just like that all the anger rushed out of me, leaving me empty a gaping hole of sadness.

When I looked down at the small mockingjay pin that lay in the palm of my hand, a single tear rolled down my cheek. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I gave in and let it roll down my cheek before dropping onto the grey coverlet underneath me. Abruptly I stood up rapidly blinking to keep away any of the tears that threatened to follow. I could not afford this right now all I would get was another scolding for crying. "It would ruin your face", my mother would say, " Make you look even less attractive then you can already are. You can't afford that, Maysilee not with a sister like Avril!"

I gently put the pin under my pillow, taking deep breaths to regain control of myself; I would need it to get through the rest of the day. Quickly I dressed, putting on my best clothes, a white dress with lace around the rim, and a small pair of silver sandals. Normally I would be wearing my normal pair of loose pants and boots, but for a day like today, I had to be dressed nicely.

I really hated these clothes. Not only were they uncomfortable and even less flattering on my lean, tall structure but my mother seemed to be intent on flaunting, her daughter's good fortune in front of everyone who would notice.

"Ok May, you can do this," I thought gently to myself, "Just a couple more hours and this will all be over, then you can go to the Oak, you can be alone, you can-

"Maysilee, you get down here right now!"

-And there went my pep talk. Well here it goes, and with that I put my hand lightly on the handle of my door and twisted, opening it with a small click to reveal the wooden hallway behind.

"Maysilee!"

"Coming Mother!" I yelled back, as I hurriedly padded down the wide staircase and into the wide, brightly lit kitchen. "Don't worry I'm right here." My mother stood with her back to me, working away at the stove, pushed up along the right side of the room. In the middle of the spacious kitchen was a long wooden table, where my twin sister Avril sat, eating a muffin. As I walked into the room Avril looked up and gave me a quick smile, instinctively I smiled back. It is impossible not to smile back when Avril smiles at you, she is beautiful, gorgeous really, someone who most people seem to open up to immediately. I really must talk to her about it; my life would be so much easier if I had her way with people.

Before I could even take one more step, my mother turned around and it began.

"You are so ungrateful, Maysilee Donner, girl! I get up early every morning to cook for you and you don't even have the decency to come down here on time!" She paused to take a quick breath before continuing "I don't know what you are so obsessed with up there, or is it maybe just you moping the day away!" with this last statement she started shaking an oatmeal covered spoon in my face. " Your sister, the angel that she is, is here on time every morning of every day. So why can't you be, tomorrow you better be on time or who knows what I will be forced to do." And with that she seemed to finish her speech about my moping habits in my bedroom.

I bristled with frustration and anger as she turned back around to continue cooking. Why couldn't she just try to understand, who I was! I again blinked rapidly as my second tears of the morning began to show up.

Before anymore drama could ensue, and to keep the tears at bay –distracting myself seems to do that- I walked over to the cupboard and took out a plate, picking a muffin up on my way to the table. As I struggled to silently scoot the chair next to my sister out of its former spot, so as not to attract anymore of my mother attention, I finally managed to the force the last of the offending tears back. When I finally sat down, Avril gave me a sympathetic glance. It showed that she was sorry and made my morning look a little brighter after my mother's scolding and the impending fear of the upcoming day. It was nice to know that the one person in the world, my twin, who was supposed to understand me, did.

With the morning behind me, I prepared myself to endure the most fearful day of every year, where the fear and pain was so thick you could swallow it, Reaping Day.

**Hey again! **

**So here is the next chapter of my story, it took what seemed for me a long time to get this out! I hope that this chapter is not to confusing and rushed as this is my first story and I'm trying my best! So enjoy!**

**Please review, as it really helps!**

**-readlivlaflove**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: The Mask**_

_**A/N: **__**HUNGER GAMES AND CHARACTERS BELONG TO SUZANNE COLLINS. **_

_**I know that this is pretty late, but updates should be coming a lot more frequently now, sorry about the long delay! Actually maybe not, I am a pretty slow writer. **_

I always feel a sharp prick of pain in my chest when my mother favors my sister over me, when I lose everything that is Maysilee and just become the plain sister, the dull sister, the shadow of Avril Donner. It hurts. It hurts like the pain of a thousand bullets piercing through my skin when I hear those words. The pain is just strengthened all the more when they slip from the mouth of someone who should love you. See you for who you are.

This is where the mask comes in. It is a tool used by every single human being. They may know it, they may not, but they do use it. It is the default expression, the wall that shields true thoughts, it is the face of the true liar. It is a blank lie itself. It is a skill, a skill that I excel at.

This is the lie that slips into place as easily as a knife slips into butter, whenever I am in need. Sometimes it even slips on when I have not called it into place. This is the mask that I consciously wear now as I walk with my family to the Reaping. What they see is a plain ugly blonde with startling grey green eyes in fancy clothes. A blank, dumb look stuck onto her face with glue. While inside her, Maysilee Donner is crying openly. Long hard sobs and screams that will never show themselves. For they are locked in a cupboard buried far beneath mounds of dust and dirty rags. Where no one will ever find them, not even myself.

As I walk with my sister on my right and my parents behind her, the outsider, in the picture, my dress brushing against my legs again and again and again, in long monotonous strides as I feel the clip jammed into my long hair by my mother that morning pierce my scalp. The pain a mere echo of the pain inside myself.

And then people, dozens and dozens of people that appeared out of nowhere surrounded us. It was a wave of motion that had been hanging above us waiting to crash down. My sister grabbed tightly onto my hand with her slender fingers as my parents walked away into the blur, without even a word to me. (I'm sure that words of encouragement and praise were passed onto my sister while I stood by oblivious to the world outside my head.) We walked quickly over to the roped off area for the 16 year old girls, our feet crunching quietly across the gravel floor.

Everyone knew that my sister and I were never even really candidates in the reaping. Our parents were merchants, they owned the clothing store, and the shoe store, the only ones in town, the amount of money they made basically guaranteeing that their children would never even worry about the Reaping. And we had not, not the slightest bit did Avril and I worry about the chance we had of being Reaped. For us, that chance didn't even exist.

As we took our places with the others, a small blonde blur popped out of nowhere and slammed into the small empty space in front of us. Eliciting a squeal of excitement from my sister as she greeted her best friend, Callie, who later became mine as well; Callie was an energy ball, literally, she was never tired. Stunningly beautiful the only girl who even came close to rivaling my sister's beauty. They were the girls who were talked about by everyone and invited to all the parties. Constantly courted by swarms of young men attracted to them like moths to a flame. They were still bombarded by many stricken with love for them even though they had both discovered true love.

My sister is dating the Mayor's son, who was also quite handsome and rumored to be the next mayor when he came of age. It was a "perfect match", stated my mother. Callie though had fallen for a dark haired boy from the Seam. He was stunning in both looks and voice. When he spoke it sounded like honey was gliding and dripping over the words that were uttered from his lips. And when he sang, it was said that even the birds stopped to listen. He was followed by everyone. Boys desperate for his looks and popularity to leak onto them like the honey coating his words, and girls desperate for his affection. As before another almost perfect match, it was easy to see how much both couples cared for each other, it was constant always there, they had this look in their eyes like they would do anything for each other, jump in front of a bullet. It's crazy though, why would you do that for anyone. Why would you kill yourself willingly. The feeling was completely foreign to me, unknown and weird. It just didn't make sense.

As we were standing there, a freezing wind blew through the square with whispers of winter on its breath, tainting the humid summer air. Shivering I looked up to see that the escort Gilda Gold had taken the stage, her towering golden hair- true to her name- almost toppling over, pulled by the mysterious wind.

She began to speak in that crazy accent of the Capitol beginning with her traditional "Welcome to Reaping Day, Isn't it Glorious?" speech. I felt a wave of nausea creep into the pit of my stomach and twine itself around into a knot at her words. It was sick. So sick the way the death of innocents was a source of entertainment. I almost threw up all over the poor girl in front of me, thoughts of killing and screaming and death running circles in my head. And then a wave of fear overrode my system, fear that maybe Avril might get picked or Callie, and then what would happen to me, with my mother and…. How could I do this! As if it had been seeping out of the locker buried deep in my mind, all the pain that I had collected over the past years began breaking out wave after wave after wave of pain and anguish began to escape as I desperately tried to bury it again! It wasn't working, it wasn't working! The mask was cracking and the screams and shrieks were working up my throat. Clawing at me like a wild animal let loose, climbing and howling searching for a way out. I couldn't bear it much longer. Black began to seep into my vision, I felt like I had lost control of my body, of my soul that I had caged down for so long. The tears were coming, the relentless tears that had only sprung forth once before many years ago. I quickly began searching for something, anything that could ground me, pull me back anything at all. My eyes began searching wildly, like the true animal inside of me, for something, someone that wasn't there. For someone who cared.

While these feelings had surged inside me the noises of the world had faded to a faint hum, barely there, but now as I searched for that one thing to ground me, it all came back in a sudden roar of noise, assaulting my ears in pain filled sounds so loud it was almost silent.

When I felt I could take it no more and I could feel my mind about to give up, I saw it, and was swallowed whole.

Endless grey seas of calm, beautiful swirling grey, grey within grey, and it was so, so beautiful. So peaceful and calming, and silent but startling all at once, and I knew I had found it. The one thing I had been unknowingly searching for my whole life. For the first time in 10 years I felt peace in the very center of my being, and I felt the whole storm raging inside of me calm. It was beautiful.

With that I began to regain control of myself. Coming back to myself, sounds and smells slowly creeping back my sight coming back to. And I saw that the grey was a pair of eyes. The most stunning thing I had ever seen in my entire life. Grey eyes, tanned, olive skin, black hair and tall. A boy. A boy with a name.

Yet before I could remember it I heard a sound in my ears that was becoming louder and louder. It was something significant and important and familiar. It was my name.

"Maysilee Donner"

And yet the noise surrounding it was so unfamiliar to me, the sound of crying and screaming and the feeling of someone clinging to me and yelling. And it was then that it hit me, clarity so clear rushing into me, as sentences began cycling through my mind.

It was Avril and Callie who were screaming and crying.

It was my name that had been called, picked from the Reaping bowl.

That was why they were crying.

So my parents had been wrong, a merchant could be reaped.

The boy's name was Haymitch Abernathy.

And then a single tear rolled down my face as I realized that I was going to die.

_**A/N**__**: This was a really hard chapter to write. Extreme cases of writer's block kept popping up out of no where! Thanks to the artists Lifehouse, Amanda Seyfried, Ben Cocks, The Fray, and Trading Yesterday for getting me through.**_

_**And a huge thanks to my awesome Beta and bff for life OliviaMellark, for all her support and letting crash at her house while I wrote this.**_

_**Last question: Should the main characters kiss before or during the death scene?**_

_**-Readlivlaflove**_

_**There is a little button down there, with a little word on it. Go on press it, you know you want to! OliviaMellark will send you a thank you message if you do!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**: Grey Eyes, Calm Storms

"Maysilee Donner" called Gilda calmly, in a smooth voice, as if calling out the names of children going to die is completely normal. Well for her, it probably is. I looked up towards the high platform in front of me, letting the mask slide over my features once more. That tear would be the last one I shed for a while. I would not show my emotions- show anything that was mine, to these barbarians.

As I look towards the stage, I see that the sea of girls has parted in front of me, leaving me a clear path towards my death. Everyone is completely silent. The only sounds are my sister and Callie, sobbing behind me. Turning my head towards the noise, I watched as they clung to each other, sobbing. I walked towards them quietly, my shoes crunching noisily, when a voice rang out over the quiet.

"Darling, you are walking the wrong way! The stage is over here." Rang out the clear, accented voice of Gilda, only barely covering up her panic. I silently laughed to myself, Hah! She thought I was disobeying the Capitol, walking away from my future job as entertainment. Well, I wasn't defying anyone before but now, I will. So I continued walking. It was small a tiny seed of rebellion, but it was rebellion. For that was the only way you could defy the Capitol. Plant many small seeds and hope that one day, maybe one day, one will bloom.

I knew that this was what I was going to do. Before I died, I would plant as many seeds as I could, and pray that one-day, someone or something would cause them to bloom. Would cause them to spread their roots deep into the soil and live, and give us all something to live for.

With that I walked over to my sister and my friend and leaned in between them before whispering one word.

"Remember."

Then I looked into both of their faces, and turned away. The wind was pulling my hair into a dance around my face as I walked quietly toward the stage and up the wooden stairs, towards Gilda, toward the short future of the rest of my life.

You could see Gilda, practically shaking at how rude I had been. She grabbed onto my shoulders quite roughly, pulling me quickly towards the mike.

"Well, onto the boys then." She spoke loudly into the mike, almost causing me to jump from the sudden noise in the quiet. Her voice contained a hint of nervousness and anger at my recent action barely concealed by her silly accent.

I turned my face towards the sky. I would not look towards the grey sea of people below me, for I knew that if I saw my sister and Callie, I would cry to. My expression was blank, as the sun shone down onto my pale skin. It was then that I noticed out of the corner of my eye, another girl standing next to me. She was fairly pretty with light skin, brown eyes and honey coloured hair. It was the one and only Laurel Moren. The school bully and slut, it was said that she had kissed many boys behind the rag heap at school. Then she bullied the other girls uselessly. Myself included. She was a friend of Avril's. They hung out sometimes, not often but sometimes.

I tried to tell her about Laurel but she wouldn't listen, it was the first time she didn't listen to me. She had always been the only one who had listened, and that day I lost that to.

A small boy walked onto the stage and stood next to Laurel. I didn't know him, but he looked to be from the Seam. He was pretty small though, not more then 14, unfortunately.

It was then that Gilda's voice rang forth once more, to call to the stage the fourth victim of the Capitol.

"Haymitch Abernathy."

Oh no. I watched his tall form walk towards me. Tall, brown-haired, grey-eyed, beautiful, Haymitch. Oh no.

He lined himself up next to the young boy. I realized with a small shock that I was staring. I quickly tore my eyes away. Struggling greatly to keep the emotion off my face. How did this boy, this one boy, manage to calm me down and excite me all at once. This was impossible, I didn't understand what was happening, what was wrong with me.

I caught a glimpse of us on the screen set up over to the right of the stage. The four of us lined up all in a row, like lambs for slaughter.

Two girls and two boys, three 16 year olds, one 12 year old, two from the Seam, and two merchants. The victims of the Capitol, the Children of District 12, four Tributes in the 75th Annual Hunger Games, in the second Quarter Quell.

And I was one of them.

**A/N- So a little short but more to come. I'm thinking of making Maysilee a singer, or is that too much like Katniss? Anyone find the mistake in the last chapter? Anyway here it is, Chapter 3. **

**There is a little button down there, you know you want to click it! 3**


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